Putting the clocks back on Sunday morning will cause hundreds of road crashes during the darker evening peak and result in a surge in electricity consumption, a study has found.

It argues that if Britain joined Central European Time (CET), advancing the time by one hour throughout the year, the result would be to save lives, decrease obesity levels and increase tourism and leisure spending.

The study by University of Cambridge’s Centre for Technology Management considered the costs and benefits of Britain joining CET, putting the country one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time in winter and two hours ahead in summer.

In England, it would remain light until 11pm at the height of summer and not get dark until about 5pm even in midwinter.

There are more accidents in the afternoon rush hour than in the morning because motorists’ concentration levels are lower after a day’s work. More daylight in the evenings would save at least 100 lives and prevent 450 serious injuries because there would be more daylight as drivers travelled home, the study suggested.

Child pedestrians are also almost twice as likely to be hit by a vehicle in the afternoon because they tend to spend longer on the roads than in the morning, when most walk straight to school. The researchers admit that the road safety benefits would be partly offset by a small increase in casualties in the morning.

The study also predicted that joining CET would result in electricity consumption falling by 1-2 per cent in the winter. People would spend more waking hours in daylight and would use lights less.

Obesity levels would fall, especially among children, because there would be more opportunities for outdoor activities in winter. Tourism and leisure industries would benefit from an additional £1 billion in spending.

The study also suggests that there would be business benefits from Britain joining the same time zone as its big European trading partners.

The authors say that the only losers from changing time zones would be those who go to work early in the morning, particularly in Scotland. They propose that, where possible, working hours could be adjusted for these workers in winter, as occurs in Scandinavia. They argue that resistance to the idea in Scotland is largely the result of misinformation. “Scottish MPs have not been provided with comprehensive and clearly explained evidence,” their report said.

During an experiment 40 years ago, when British Summer Time was used all year for three years, there was an average of 2,500 fewer deaths and serious injuries each year. Opposition from Scotland contributed to the decision to return to putting the clocks back in winter.

A separate analysis of monthly road casualty figures also indicates that the sudden loss of an hour of daylight at the end of October makes roads more dangerous.

Last year, November was by far the worst month for injuries in road crashes. Among car users, the casualty rate rose from 37 per 100 million vehicle kilometres in October to 44 in November. There was also a 12 per cent increase in pedestrian casualties in November compared with October.

Alan Kennedy, vice-chairman of the Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association, supported later daylight hours. “We have the opportunity to protect some of the most vulnerable road users,” he said.

Robert Gifford, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: “There is no doubt that keeping the UK on the same time zone as the rest of Europe would save lives among all classes of road user. The Government should now agree to a trial to confirm public support for such a measure.”

Last week, Jersey voted in a referendum against adopting CET. Business leaders had argued that moving the clocks forward one hour would put the island out of step with London.

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